1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an electrical connector and receptacle assembly in which selected pins or conductive elements of the connector are automatically shorted upon disconnection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For an electrical connector member which mates with a complementary member, it is often necessary upon disconnection that a plurality of the pins or conductive elements of the connector member automatically be shorted with respect to each other in order to protect electrical components from damage as a result of static electrical shock. Arrangements for opening the selectively shorted pins of the connector member upon mating with its complementary receptacle member have generally relied on specially configured surfaces on the receptacle member to operate. Thus, the electrical connector and receptacle members must be specially configured to provide the requisite shorting and opening of selected pins upon disconnect and connect, respectively, thereby adding undue complexity and expense.
One electrical connector-receptacle arrangement that provides for an automatic shorting upon disconnection and opening upon connection which does not require specially configured receptacle surfaces is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,940 entitled "Electrical Connecting Spring Device", by W. H. Wallo, issued Sept. 16, 1969. This patent shows a coiled compression spring mounted in a separable plug and jack connector assembly wherein the spring automatically expands and grounds the plug in the absence of the jack. The spring is automatically compressed upon insertion of the jack into the plug and compressed so as to separate and electrically disconnect from the plug. This arrangement can operate with a standard jack and therefore does not require that the receptacle end of the connector have specially configured surfaces to be operable. However, the coiled compression spring is shown as operating on only a single pin or elongated electrical connector element and would be difficult to adapt to a connector of the type having a plurality of closely spaced apart pins or elongated conductive elements.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide an electrical connector-receptacle arrangement in Which a connector member of the type having a plurality of spaced apart conductive elements or pins operates in a simple and economical manner to short a select number of its pins upon its disconnection from a complementary receptacle member.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an electrical connector-receptacle assembly in which a connector member having a plurality of spaced apart conductive elements or pins operates to automatically open the short between selected ones of the pins upon its connection to a standard receptacle member which has not been specially adapted to effect such opening.
Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. The invention accordingly comprises a system possessing a construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure.